The molecular docking approach was used to determine the binding affinities and the interactions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis dihydrofolate reductase (mtbDHFR) in complex with 2, 4-diaminopyrimidines analogues (PYR analogous). This approach can classify compounds into low and high affinity agents which can be further developed as a possible dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor for tuberculosis treatment. Our study provides insight into the important interactions of mtbDHFR with PYR analogues which lead to the design of effective agents against mtbDHFR.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of medicinal plant extracts and the plant extract that encapsulated in alginate chitosan nanoparticles on the inhibition of the growth of bacteria causing skin diseases. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Artocarpus lacucha showed the highest antibacterial activity against all the tested bacteria; Corynebacterium sp., Micrococcus luteus, and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The A. lacucha loaded alginate chitosan demonstrated that the shape of the nanoparticles was spherical and that their sizes were 170-560 nm. The results showed that the A. lacucha extract was encapsulated in the nanoparticles by 90.83% and exhibited antimicrobial activity on bacteria causing skin disease. A. lacucha extract showed a broad spectrum of anti-bacterial activity on bacteria causing skin diseases. Therefore, the use of nanotechnology for encapsulating also offers an interesting potential of A. lacucha loaded alginate chitosan that showed anti-bacterial activity and reduced toxicity of A. lacucha extract.

The wild edible mushroom Macrolepiota dolichaula is widely consumed in China, India and northern Thailand as seasonal delicacies. Optimal cultural conditions, spawn production, cultivation parameters in compost and an outdoor method for inoculating spawn of M. dolichaula in orchard soils were investigated. Among the nine media tested, the optimum mycelial growth was observed in malt extract agar (MEA). This mushrrom can grow at a wide range of temperatures and pH values, although the optimum temperature and pH for the mycelial growth were 30ฐC and pH 7.0 respectively. Among the seven substrates tested, red sorghum was the best substrates for spawn production. Red sorghum spawn was fully colonized within 14 days following inoculation. The mushroom grew well in compost made of a pasteurized mixture of rice straw, rice bran, gypsum, calcium carbonate, urea and diammonium phosphate that was composted, using the outdoor method. After application of casing, basidiomes were obtained at 25ฐC and 92% relative humidity. Fructification took place at 41 days from spawning and yields from four flushes from four compost baskets were recorded. Basidiomes were also observed from the spawn inoculated sites in the orchard during the rainy season, ten months following spawn inoculation into the soil. This report provides valuable information concerning the possibility to cultivation M. dolichaula in compost and gardens or orchards soils in Thailand.

Cordycepin is one of the most important bioactive compounds produced by the insect pathogenic fungus Cordyceps militaris. The effects of medium composition on enhanced production of cordycepin by C. militaris were investigated by changing the liquid supplement medium composition with rice medium in this study. Glucose, peptone, adenine, and histidine were optimized to improve the yield of cordycepin in 300 mL cylindrical glass bottles by solid state fermentation using response surface methodology. The optimum medium for cordycepin production using solid state fermentation were: glucose 26.25 g/L, peptone 26.25 g/L, adenine 7.50 g/L, histidine 4.50 g/L, MgSO4ื7H2O 0.1 g/L, and KH2PO4 0.1 g/L in liquid supplement medium. Under these conditions, the maximum cordycepin yield in the rice culture medium was 18.92 mg/g on 39 days, and this value is higher when compared to other reports using solid state fermentation. This is the first report for improving the cordycepin production by adding additives (nucleoside analogue and amino acid) in solid state fermentation by C. militaris. This method provides an effective way for increasing the cordycepin production by solid state fermentation.

Ethanol production from a cellulosic substrate by the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process was compared between the thermotolerant cellobiose fermenting yeast, Kluyveromyces marxianus G2-16-1, and the thermotolerant Saccharomyces cerevisiae G5-7-2 strain that had almost same efficiency to produce ethanol from glucose, as well as between them. The ethanol productivity of K. marxianus G2-16-1 from the lignocellulosic fiber of cassava waste pulp was 0.27 g L-1 h-1, some 1.17-fold higher than that for S. cerevisiae G5-7-2 (0.23 g L-1 h-1). Enhancement of the end-product inhibition effect of cellulase by the addition of 10% (w/v) carboxymethyl cellulose to increase the amount of digestible cellulose substrate and a two-fold increased level of cellulase into the SSF-cellulosic fermentation process increased the ethanol productivity of K. marxianus G2-16-1 1.78-fold to 0.48 g L-1 h-1, but decreased that for S. cerevisiae G5-7-2 to 0.21 g L-1 h-1. The co-culture of K. marxianus G2-16-1with S. cerevisiae G5-7-2 could increase the ethanol productivity of S. cerevisiae G5-7-2 from 0.21 to 0.42 g L-1 h-1. Thus K. marxianus G2-16-1, which can hydrolyze cellobiose to glucose, is therefore able to accelerate the ethanol production rate from a cellulosic substrate in the SSF process.

Probiotics are beneficent dietary supplements in aquaculture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Pediococcus pentosaceus PKWA-1 and Bacillus subtilis BA04 on growth performances, immune responses and survival after challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila of Nile tilapia. The tilapia fish were fed with four different diets: basal diet (G1) or diet supplemented with 1 ´ 107 CFU/g PKWA-1 (G2); 1 ´ 107 CFU/g BA04 (G3); or with the mixture of 0.5 ´ 107 CFU/g PKWA-1 and 0.5 ´ 107 CFU/g BA04 (G4) at the rate of 5% of body weight, twice a day. After 42 days of feeding, G2, G3 and G4 showed no significant different improvement daily weight gain and specific growth rate compared with G1 (P > 0.05). After 14 days, the immune responses showed significant enhancements of phagocytic activity and alternative complement activity in G2, G3 and G4. Significant enhancement of serum lysozyme activity was found after 28 days of feeding within such groups. Interestingly, G4 showed persistent enhancement in alternative complementary activity and serum lysozyme activity. No significant difference of total leucocyte count was found between the supplemented and control groups. After 30 days, G2, G3 and G4 showed disease resistance against Aeromonas hydrophila. The relative percentage survival ranged from 22.5% to 27.5% in G2, G3, G4 and 0% in G1. These results suggest that the use of PKWA-1 and BA04 single or in combination as feed supplements is beneficial to Oreochromis niloticus.

This research demonstrated a new method to utilize nutrient composition in non-rubber skim latex for Poly (L-lactic acid) (PLA)-degrading enzymes production due to the enzyme is a very important trend regarding recycling plastic wastes in the future. Moreover, we attempted to find an alternative supporter such as scrub pad for cell immobilization and used as material for the enzyme production under open continuous fermentation. The PLA-degrading enzyme production was determined using a non-rubber skim latex and basal medium containing 0.035% (w/v) PLA powder and 1% (w/v) scrub pad as a supporter for the bacterial cells in a shake flask and fermenter. The effect of the physical parameters and the nitrogen sources were studied. The following optimal conditions were used: gelatin as the nitrogen source, a temperature of 45°C, an initial pH of 7.0, an agitation speed of 100 rpm, without aeration support and 3 days of cultivation. This resulted in an activity of approximately 41 U/ml and 0.56 U/ml.h of productivity in the 2 L fermenter. The highest PLA-degrading activity, 45 U/ml, was achieved in the fermenter by a continuous process under open fermentation with a dilution rate of 0.013 h-1. These results mean that non-rubber skim latex has the potential for PLA-degrading enzyme production through an open fermentation method in strain T16-1.

Ferulic acid has been of growing interest with regard to producing flavor compounds. In this study, the optimization conditions as substrate concentration, time of incubation, pH of the medium, age of inoculums and temperature of the bioconversion of ferulic acid into 4-vinyl guaiacol by Volvariella volvacea were determined. The results showed that the maximum production of 4-vinyl guaiacol (637.8 mg/L) was achieved under the following conditions; initial ferulic acid concentrations of 750 mg/L, 144 hours of incubation, pH of medium 7.5, age of inoculums 72 hours and incubation temperature 30 °C.